The second
wave of the very cool DC Universe Classics Green Lantern figures are
now out at several retailers, running around $16 or so each.
This wave includes the Green Lantern's G'hu, Sodam Yat, a
three pack of Green Lantern B'dg, Red Lantern Dex-Starr and Sinestro
Corps Despotellis, Star Sapphire, and two figures that have
interchangeable parts to make two different figures: Green Lantern
Nautkeiloi/Medphyll, and Red Lantern Skallox/Night Lik. There's also
the Collect and Connect figure of Stel, so technically if you buy
enough figures, you can make 11 Green Lantern, Red Lantern and Sinestro
Corps figures out of this series.

Of course, to do that you have to buy a couple extras, but you have to
admit that this is quite the variety of characters. It's also worth
noting that G'hu is actually a 'sneak peek movie' figure, or so the
package claims. I'm assuming that means we'll see this guy in the
upcoming Green Lantern film for the first time.

Tonight I'm looking at said G'hu, Yat and the combinable figure of Red
Lantern Skallox and Night Lik. Skallox has been in the
comics, and he's the one with the goat skull head. Night Lik has the
funky blue head with the multiple eyes, although I don't think we've
yet seen him in any other format yet.

Packaging - ***
These cardback/bubble packs are slightly the new, slightly larger DCUC
style. There's a bit of waste here, and the Collect and Connect pieces
are hidden out of sight behind the insert. The graphics and text are
good, and there's some personalization as well.

Also, unlike the first wave, I
haven't had any trouble with bent knees or ankles due to the interior
bubbles and the action poses.

Sculpting -
Skallox/Night Lik ****; G'hu, Yat ***
The outstanding sculpt in this set of three is the Skallox/Night Lik
set. Both heads look fantastic, with deep, detailed work. The goat head
of Skallox looks a bit like something you'd find drying out in the
desert, but that realism is what sells it. And the funky multi-eyed
look
of the Night Lik reminds me of something right out of the Galactic
Football League books by Scott Sigler.

Night Lik has two huge tentacles
that run down the back of his head, and because of the way they are
wrapped up in the package, naturally wrap up around either arm. I'm not
sure if they are supposed to - as I mentioned earlier, I don't think
we've seen this guy actually pictured in any comic book yet - but
they look great this way, so I'm happy.

His huge blue hands have deadly
looking claws along with a funky red tentacle coming out of the center
of each palm. It's a very unique look, even for an alien.

G'hu has a very specific body
sculpt, with lots of detail in his exo-skeleton like body. He looks
like a cricket made sweet, sweet love to a squid and this was the
result. While Night Lik only had two tentacles, G'hu has a ton, all
ending in a barbed point.

Just below his neck, jutting
from either side of his torso, are two small praying mantis arms. The
hands at the end of his larger arms are made from a very soft rubber,
and they may stick a bit when you first try to turn them.

Sodam Yat has a funky high and
tight hairdo, and a slightly weird expression. I have to admit that the
Johnny Torch look isn't doing it for me, but he's at least another
Green Lantern on the shelf.

These are all in a 6" scale of
course, just like the rest of the line, and they all stand fantastic on
their own.

Paint - ***
The paint work is solid across the whole line, with very little slop.
The tampos are sharp and even, and most of the colors are consistent.
There's the occasionally sloppy line or wavy edge, and at $16 a pop
I'm expecting these to have top notch work.

My only real complaint
on any of these is with Skallox. The black lines around the teeth don't
look realistic - they look cartoony, sort of like something you'd see
on the Simpsons or Family Guy lines. It hurts the otherwise terrific
sculpt.

Articulation - ***1/2
Yat and the Skallox/Night Lik figure are on the same standard body that
we've seen plenty of times before. Ball jointed neck, post/disc ball
shoulders, pin elbows and knees, cut biceps and thighs, cut wrists, ab
crunch, cut waist, hinge hips and pin ankles all come together to allow
them to take plenty of
solid poses. The joints are nice and tight too, with solid pins.

G'hu is a brand new figure all
around. He has the ball jointed neck, but the funky dreadlock tentacles
make it a bit restricted. The pincher like arms at the neck have cut
joints where they join the body, and there are angled joints at the
elbows, knees, wrists and hips that work better than you'd expect.
There's the usual ball shoulders too, and these joints allow the figure
to stand solidly on his own and take a number of cool arm poses.

Accessories - Skallox/Night Lik
***1/2; Yat ***; G'hu **1/2
All three of these sets come with a Collect and Connect piece - legs,
arms, pelvis - which is nice if you're looking to put together Stel.
I'll be reviewing him with the other set of three.

That's the only extra that the
movie figure G'hu comes with, resulting in his slightly lower score.

Sodam comes wearing a funky
Green Lantern right fist with a large, rectangular power bolt coming
out of the ring. You can swap that out with a second plain hand.

Then there's the two pack of
Skallox and Night Lik. Since the extra head and hands are accessories
without a second body, I'm giving him a higher score here. I picked up
two though, and I'm betting a lot of people will, so that I can have
both of these Red Lantern figures on the shelf at the same time.

Whether you buy the Skallox or
the Night Lik, the extra pieces are available for the other. If you buy
Skallox, there's a head, two hands and an extra costume piece that
Night Lik wears over the torso. If you buy Night Lik he comes wearing
all that, and there's the extra Skallox head and hands.

The hands are a bit tricky to
swap, as the pegs are a tight fit. They are sturdy though, so if you
don't bend them side to side and only pull straight out, you should be
okay.

Fun Factor - ****
While these characters might be a bit far outside the usual kid's
understanding of Green Lantern, they are still damn cool looking. One
of the positives of the Green Lantern universe is all the wild alien
species that have worn the uniform, which allows Mattel to dig deep on
the characters and still come up with some great designs.

Value - *1/2
At $16 a pop, these are clearly overpriced. To complete the full set of
11, you'll have to spend at least $128, and that doesn't include
shipping or tax. For toys? Yea, that's crazy.

Things to Watch Out For -
I didn't notice a thing. Joints were all sturdy, but you might want to
take care turning the wrists the first time on G'hu, and when you're
swapping the hands with Skallox and Night Lik.

Overall - Skallox/Night
Lik ***1/2; Yat, G'hu ***
I love the Skallox/Night Lik, largely because the Night Lik is
outstanding. Skallox is good too, but the funky black highlight lines
around the teeth hurts his look a bit.

The G'hu is...interesting. The
bug-like look takes him away from the DCUC style a bit, but it's nice
that we're getting one of the movie figures early.

Out of these three (or four,
depending on ow you want to look at it), Yat is my least favorite. It's
cool that we got this version of the costume, but the figure is fairly
dull.

I'll be covering the others
later this week, including the other figure in the set that's really
two-in-one!